SILICON VALLEY: A 22-year-old Sikh has filed a complaint with the US Justice Department saying that two night clubs in California refused him entry because he was wearing a patka.
Dave Bindra, a Carlsbad resident, has alleged that he was barred from entering the clubs on July 27 by bouncers who said he was violating a dress code.
Bindra says the bouncers objected to his patka.
"I explained that I was wearing it because of my religion, but they said they had a policy of no beanies, no do-rags and no hats allowed," Bindra said.
A recent graduate of the Gemological Institute of America, Bindra said he tried to plead his case to the manager of one of the clubs and received what he considered an offensive response.
"He said 'beanie, do-rag, or turban, you still have a towel on your head and you're not getting in,' " Bindra was quoted as saying by 'North Country Times'.
"I felt pretty insulted, and pretty hurt," he said.
Though managers of the two clubs alleged that Bindra was 'aggressive', the youth insists that he was peaceful in his approach to both restaurants.
Bindra said he contacted the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Foundation in Washington, DC The organization has filed a formal complaint against both restaurants with the Community Relations Service, a division of the US Justice Department.
Rajbir Singh Datta, associate director of the foundation, said that the complaint's intent is simply to get the bars to provide a written copy of their no-hats policy and to amend it if it does not include an exception for religious head coverings of all kinds.
